Mining for Gold

“Plink! Plink! Plink!” went the picks, as Sammy and Tom dug deeper and deeper into the gold mine. Tom wiped his forehead, and got out his handkerchief to wipe his sweat from his flipper. Tom and Sammy were best friends, and when they found out there was gold in Antarctica, they decided they were going to be the first to find out where. They started out in the gold mine, but had not uncovered anything yet.

“We’ll make the news!” Sammy had exclaimed. But now, they were beginning to lose hope.

“Maybe we should give up,” said Tom, dejected, “I’m ready for a yummy supper at the Pizza Parlor.”

“I’m hungry too Tom, but just think how many yummy suppers at the Pizza Parlor we could have if we could just find a gold nugget! And think if we found a treasure chest full of gold! You can go eat if you want, but I am going to keep on working!”

“Okay, fine. I am going to go roll in the snow a bit. Maybe it will cool me off. I get so hot in here! Then I’ll come back in,” compromised Tom, then he added, “You should take a break too. Your face is all red and your beak is drenched with sweat. Here, use my handkerchief.” Sammy wiped his beak and looked longingly at the cool white snow, but he knew he must keep working.

“Perseverance,” he thought.

Suddenly, he fell to the ground. He had fallen asleep because he was so tired! The hit awoke him. When he realized what had happened, he knew he should go to his igloo to sleep. He had forgotten to walk his dog this morning too. Where was Tom? He must have gone home. He thought of his nice, cool bed. He thought of his black dog. He must go home, he decided. But when he walked out of the gold mine, there was Tom! He was lying in the snow with his eyes shut.

“He must have fallen asleep too!” thought Sammy. He wearily picked up Tom and took him to his igloo. His dog greeted him, but was obviously upset about missing his morning walk.

“Sorry, Smokey!” he spoke gently to his puffle, “We’ll make up the walk tomorrow.” He put Tom in his guest room and when he was all settled, went to bed himself. The next morning he awoke early. Tom was awake too, and said he’d better go home and make sure his Mom knew he was okay.

“I’ll go with you,” said Sammy, “Besides, Smokey needs a walk.” So they walked to Tom’s house, only to discover that his mother had not yet woken up. Tom wrote her a note and stuck it on the igloo door.

“I’m hungry,” said Tom. Tom seemed to always be hungry. But Sammy couldn’t blame him, since they had both missed their supper the night before.

“How about we go to the Coffee Shop and get something to drink. That should help. Then we can go back to digging. I am going to find that gold!” said Sammy confidently. When they had done that, they both went to the mine to continue their digging.

“I have an idea!” cried Sammy, “Let’s take a ride through the mine, both of us in one cart. We’ll both go slowly, you look to the left, and I to the right. Let’s see if we can find any gold sticking out!”

“That’s a brilliant idea!” said Tom, who agreed completely.

They rode in silence, until Sammy shouted, “Stop the cart! I see something!” Tom pulled the cart to a halt, and they climbed out. Sammy walked back to the place he had seen something. There, in front of him, was a glimmering piece of gold!

“I can’t believe no one ever noticed this!” exclaimed Sammy.

“They were probably all watching the track and doing tricks. But I know this mine like the back of my flipper! This is amazing! We’re going to be famous! I’ll run back to get our picks.” He did so, and they found it to be a piece of gold the size of a ruler. They were indeed, put in the newspaper, picture and all, but what Sammy remembers best, is how his perseverance made him succeed. He was able to get a playmate for Smokey, who was very happy, and Tom got to eat at the Pizza Parlor as many times as he wanted after that. If you try it, perseverance will work for you too, just as it worked for Sammy.

THE END!